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Like Daughter - 59

It has been a while since my last update. Lots has occurred. Jason has six treatments of radiation left. We soon will enter the next phase of Jason's treatment. He will be meeting with his neuro-oncologist in the next two weeks. From there, he will take his chemotherapy one week on, three weeks off for six months, unless his doctor wants to do something else. He will then have his follow-up MRI at the end of October/early November to see how effective his treatment was/is. October will be the longest month of this year. We saw the lawyer two weeks ago regarding our wills. We filled out the paperwork, and now we wait for each document to be drawn up, so we can sign them and make them official, legal documents. It was a surreal and sad experience, but necessary. Jason is struggling with the grief that his diagnosis has caused him. He has a wonderful therapist who is helping him work through these feelings. He also has me -- I will continue to be his sounding board and confidante, as ...
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Like Daughter - 58

Two and a half weeks of chemo and radiation down -- two and a half to go. [Insert cliche "Livin' on a Prayer" chorus line here.] Jason is doing really well. No nausea or vomiting, not much pain except in his head every so often, but the doctor thinks it's due to the nerves reconnecting and reviving post-surgery. Overall, things are good with him. I, however, have been struggling of late. I've had two meltdowns at work. Unexpected for sure, but I was able to get through the rest of the day. It's come to the point now where everything is hitting me, and the reality of it all has finally found its mark. I've known the past two-ish months that I haven't really been taking care of myself. I was on a health journey, and it kind of went stagnant but stable earlier this year. It fell apart when all this happened. I ate whatever, didn't care the medicine wasn't working for me anymore, and didn't really bother with myself. Jason was my focus -- I wou...
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Like Daughter - 57

One week of chemo and radiation down. Four more to go. Jason is doing well, but starting to feel the side effects a little. He's tired earlier in the day, and has some tingling/itching on his scalp, but that could be from the nerves resetting from surgery. We will be creating our wills. What a thing to think about.  I know it is something we need to think about, and something we probably should have done a long time ago, but with what's happening... ugh. I don't like it at all. It feels like we're speaking it into existence. I know that's not it, but it's the feeling, you know? I just hope that it becomes where you take all the precautions and it doesn't happen. That'd be lovely -- to not have to consider any of this until maybe 30-40 years from now. My parents have been amazing. They have been taking over transporting Jason to and from treatments each day so I can go to work. It's been a huge relief, but part of me feels like I should be doing all o...
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Like Daughter - 56

It's nearly 3AM and I've got so much running through my head that I needed to do something with it. This is getting very real. Jason starts treatment in four hours. At 5:40AM, he needs to take his Zofran. At 6:10AM, he needs to take his oral Temozolomide, which is his chemotherapy. At 6:15AM, we need to be on the road to the treatment center where he will receive his first radiation treatment. From there, we will receive an official schedule for the times for his treatments each day. He will receive two radiation treatments per day for 25 days. The doctors recommended two smaller treatments per day versus one big treatment per day to lessen the possibility of long-term effects. Okie doke. Whatever helps my husband get through this. There's a lot to think about these days along with treatment logistics. 1. FMLA paperwork and preparing my classroom and students for my absence. 2. Finances, since Jason will not be working during treatment. 3. Setting up our wills...just in cas...
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Like Daughter - 55

I thought I'd never have to come back here. It's been over 10 years since I wrote on this blog, and I had honestly forgotten about it. My mother, Adelina, told me I should resurrect it, since there is now something else to talk about. First, some background. I don't think I mentioned my husband before, or if I did, I didn't say much.  I met Jason at the OMG! Cancer Summit (now called CancerCon) through the organization Stupid Cancer in April of 2011. He was diagnosed with medulloblastoma at 6 years old in 1995 as a result of water contamination in New Jersey. He had suffered a stroke, which led doctors to finding the tumor. After an excruciating and long treatment of radiation and chemo, he went into remission. It was not without its problems, though. Jason had to have a spinal fusion in his teen years, and has been hard of hearing since treatment. Otherwise, he is an extraordinary person. He is bright, funny, and my perfect type of nerd.  I was not interested in being ...
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Like Daughter - 54

Honestly, I don't even know what to say.  As you probably read in my mother's post from yesterday, my uncle Richard passed away yesterday morning from complications post-treatment for AML.  My mother said pretty much everything there was to say, but I think there's a little more. Uncle Richard, I have one more story for you. Uncle Richard was a funny man. He was downright weird at times, but the best kind of weird there is. He was never seen without a smile. Uncle Richard had this way about him - even in his lovely tennis shorts in December (mind you, we're in Baltimore) - to brighten the room around him.  I'll never forget the smell of his pipe (I hate smoking, but his pipe always smelled so good), the smile on his face, and the songs he used to sing, again in those tennis shorts. He would just break out into song. When us cousins were kids, we were always captivated by his humor. The one song that immediately comes to mind is, "The Littlest Worm....
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Like Mother - 53

Cancer has struck  our family again…in a big way.   One week after the burial of my mother on February 23, 2016 for non-cancer related issues, my brother-in-law, Richard, was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia).   Since March 6 th , he had been an inpatient at University of Maryland Hospital.   As our family typically does, we all came together to support my sister, Anna Marie.   We made daily trips to the hospital.   Most of the time we were full of hope, but eventually we felt more like wounded soldiers marching into a losing battle.   Richard suffered one unfortunate circumstance after another with both happy and sad outcomes.   The happy outcome is that the first round of chemo was successful in eradicating his leukemia cells.   The sad news is that all too often the same drugs that cure you can also, indirectly, kill you.   As a result of Richard’s extremely depleted blood cells and extremely compromised immune system f...
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